Show Reviews

We've been pretty spoiled in these last couple weeks, and I think a large number of people might have expected Reading to be forgotten quickly as the tour went on to AC. Nope. Set II here is one of the finest of the year, right up there with Hampton3 and the best of summer.

The Twenty Years Later jam is a revelation. Perfectly in line with the flavor of the song, but fresh, experimental, and just downright dance sexy. This is one of the finest jams of the year, no question. It's the highlight of the night for me, and the first thing I urge anyone to listen to.

Then check out: Disease (lovely jam with a fantastic peak at the end--the last few minutes are bonkers) and YEM (funky and loose) and Piper (Page. Page. Page.)

It's hard to contextualize things as they happen, and it's even harder to do so with a band that's been touring relentlessly for 25 of the last 30 years, dropping an absurd number of All World shows. But Fall 2013 is *something*, guys. It just is. We're all watching something happen, and boy is it a good time.

oh. my. gawd. 2nd row. so what if it was behind the stage. trey took a longer than usual solo in cars trucks and buses, and faulty planned was a scorcher. great tight versions of ginseng, sparkle, walk away , divided sky and Julius. trey did a fun and funky lag on his " bro the her" just before the jam started, which was latched onto by fishman, making the jam start off extra funky. soam was a psychotic dance party, which wound down nicely into a delicate interplay, andwhile awaiting to see how they'd bring it back to its natural conclusion, Trey stats Julius. that was totally unexpected, slightly disappointing, but in the end, genius and perfect.

about 5 minutes into the disease jam - maybe even more - it seemed like a noodlefest going nowhere fast, and I found myself hoping the crimson dego would give up and abort it to find something more interesting to play. then something happened. the fire git lit, it gets quieter, then the roller coaster ride of where are we, are they playing a different song now , they're playing free, is this a dead song, sugar magnolia, I know this song moment that happens at every great show occurs. these we're the voices of my neighbors, not in my head. never heard anything like this from disease. truly awesome. taste was longer and funkier than usual, but I think trey pissed of page by signaling the end of page's solo before page was ready. trey held back on his solo, giving the taste jam a more open, dancy vibe than normal, then the old school conclusion and pretty tight ending. stop. this is the only stop.
I remember thinking during twenty years later, Shit, this may be the one that illustrates the potential of this song's dark, I saw it again type feel, then laughed to myself because I always think that and it never does. holy shit there it goes. the darkness somehow yields more funk with a free-like rhythm to it. and away it goes. then another great piper, again focusing more on fast tempoed rhythmic interplay than one man wailing. number line was appropriate but nothing too crazy. this set was super reflective and themed lyrically like a guy celebrating the highs and lows of a remarkable existence. then yem - absolutely nailed (almost - they actually got lost right before the spacey part), with a jam more unique than I may have ever seen. jam starts off with trey letting fishman be the focus, then mike comes a thumping. this set the stage for a very different style of jam than we are used to, and it was awesome. great vocal jam and fun grind.
then comes the encore. one of the best rebas I have seen - no mistakes. with a jam that, because this was the encore I guess, there seemed to be no rush at all to bring it to its conclusion. unbelievable 110th show, full of songs I've heard a million times, but NEVER quite like this.
snarky side notes for the otherwise awesome crowd - if you're gonna sneak down from your seat to get a better look and crowd the people down there, at least pay attention to the music instead of shouting to your friend and screwing around on your phone. and to the guy throwing glowsticks at the end from behind the stage , yes you hit a cymbal in perfect time and it was awesome, but you didn't need to try to recreate your glory by hitting fishman I'm the back like 8 times during the reba jam. I hope he finds you and throws crap at you while you are trying to do the hardest part of your job!

This was as good a 'Trey' show as any in the 3.0 era...and I think the best so far this year. It was his night to shine and he took us on some wonderful journeys. Can't wait to re-listen. Highlights: DWD, 20 Years, Divided,YEM, Reba, GTBT, and everything else they played. Wasn't a single bad song, and I enjoyed the selection (especially Reba!)

For me, this was show #87 on my list, and the very first one in my hometown. I had this feeling coming into the show that the boys would do something special tonight, and man did they ever (CK5 included!) I didn't hear one missed note the entire night, and when it seemed like a couple jams were unraveling, one little spark was all it took to take us to some dark, funky places. Top ten show for me.

Best music of the tour yet in my opinion... wolfmans funky and an inspiring walk away jam... divided sky was nailed and the jam, breathtaking...soam is awesomely sinister... dwd is a psychedelic gorgeous soundscape (heavy improved throughout with hose segments), taste was a treat... twenty years later! Talk about a surprise jam, this thing was awesome (gotta listen back) and if that wasn't the peak then YEM was; extremely phunky jams and one of the best vocal jams I've heard (loved and had so much pun throughout this entire yem, endless smiles)... then my fave part, Reba, I'm just gonna say my fave Reba of 3.0, composed section nailed and the jam is awe inspiring!!! Listen... my fave show of the tour so far... not the best song selection but they jammed to hard to matter

Live streamed this one so my viewpoint is from the comfort of my home as opposed to having been in the arena. But even so, wow oh wow was this quite a show. With the exception of one little blip in Rochester, this band has been on fire since Hampton III, and especially since Worcester. Fall 2013 is shaping up to be one for the ages.

The first set was full of highlights, but the two songs everyone will be talking about years from now will be the DWD (specifically Trey blowing the lid off the song at the end) and 20YL from set II.

Let's talk about that Twenty Years Later, shall we? Who expected a jam to come out of that one? It was in the perfect "breather" spot for the boys to take a well-earned rest, and right up until the outro, that's exactly the tone and tempo they took. Then something just happened. I don't think they planned a jam on this one at all. To my ears, Trey and Page simultaneously moved toward a "wind down" around the 5 1/2 minute mark as both held onto the same chord. I think Trey was starting to look for something to segue into, and then you can hear the moment of inspiration happen once he goes into those psychedelic chords to move things along into open waters, incorporating sections of dirty funk, blues, and minor chord dissonance into the jam that wrapped up quite nicely with a segue into Piper.

The rest of the show was gravy after that - a slick piper with Page (again) as MVP, then a well-placed #line and finally a great YEM and Grind 1-2 punch to close the set before encore.

Who was expecting a Reba to be part of the encore? Nobody, that's who. A nice quick version and then a Good Times show closer - what more could anybody ask for.

Revel in it folks. In my opinion this is the best playing on a night-to-night basis that we've seen from Phish since the late 90s.

I'm from France and after listing to Phish for 16 years with attending a show, I finally been able to make the trip the USA on October 29th 2013.

Lights switched off.
Speakers muted.
People screaming.
Phish coming on stage for the first time in Reading, PA.
Phish coming on stage for the first time in front of my eyes.

First Set

My first Phish song caught me by surprise.
When I thought about what would be my dream setlist, I came up with too many songs to fit in a regular show, even in a two days/three sets festival, actually ! And yet, I didn't thing about this one, even though I had a kind of obsession for it several years ago.
Cars, trucks, buses.
What a fit choice after the countless hours of travels I had that day !
What a way to start a week of concerts I've been waiting for so long !
The rest of the set was like a dream too, like the dream I had so many times but better : Stealing Time from the Fault Plan (one of my favorite, maybe a little more favorite than my other favorties), Divided Sky (the pause seemed endless, I felt suspended on air), Sparkle (I used to sing this one a lot when I played the guitar), that Split Open and Melt jam...
Like I had expected, the glance of the band coming on stage haven't driven me nuts. I was over-happy and bouncing of course, but I've watched so many videos, dvds or webcasts along the years, that I have had no real shock when the show started. I felt like I was in my element, like I've always meant to be here. I made eye contact with everyone around me, smiling and sharing high-fives. I've always loved watching people at concerts, sometimes more than looking at the stage actually. Everybody was so cheerful, so happy, so nice, so welcoming. I've never felt this at any other concert in my life. It was the first time but I felt at home, in my family.
My Phish family, at long last.

Setbreak

I went to buy some water. The access to the first floor was tight and crowded but everybody was laughing, joking... I met Gilles (my friend from Switzerland) at the Waterwheel Foundation table, an easy way to find each other. We spoke about these great first set. We felt very lucky to see the band at this time in their career. I hadn't listened to anything from this fall tour yet but all I had heard about it from the Web and Gilles were praises.
During setbreak, several fans stopped by me to ask if it really was a french flag I was carrying. One guy specificaly, Ken, was amazed to find a french fan at this show : his wife's family have been traveling from France to visit them this very day ! I asked him where do they come from in France. He said Lyon. No way ! I'm from Lyon too !! We couldn't stop laughing. That was crazy indeed ! He asked Gilles to take a picture of us with the flag. I gave him my card so that he can send me the picture by email and I received it a few days ago.
You should definitely check out his photographs on his website, they rock : www.kenscelfo.tumblr.com

Second Set

I was very lucky to have a general admission floor ticket but after my back problems the week before I didn't want to risk anything. So I decided it would be safer to see the second set in one of the sections with a seat at hand if my back hurted too much.
I ended in Section 103, on Page side (Rage side), with Gilles. We had a nice view from above the stage and quite close too. I was surprised how good the sound was even if we weren't facing the band. There were speakers all around the stage, even some directed to the back sections. This kind of set up (multi-direction speakers and seats behind the stage) doesn't exist in Europe, at least I've never heard of it.
This second set was fantastic. We had great jams, long and diverse. During the whole concert, we had a little bit of everything in terme of jam and songs. We had jazz, rock, bluegrass, funk, dissonant explorations, spacy moments, bluesy improvisations...
When Twenty Years Later started, Gilles gave me a claps on my shoulder : it was his piss-song. We laughed about that in the car during the day. I couldn't understand how people could skip a song during a concert. Especialy from my point of view, I've never had the chance to see my favortie band live and those fans have the luxury to choose to piss instead of listening to the show.
But when the band started to jam extensively the song for the first time ever, I started laughing.
There can't be no piss-song ! Every song is important ! Phish is important !
The boys really were at the top of their game. I'm yet to listen to this show again (I actually received my livephish CDs today) but I'm sure it's one of the best I've ever heard, and I don't say that because it was my first show. I think I managed to listen to the music with the same ears as when I listen to a show with my headphones in France.
After 5 jams in the second set, they even treat us with a beautiful You Enjoy Myself. Even the vocal jam at the end, which I don't always like, was really melodic and surprising.
Wasn't that enought ?
What about an a cappela song ?
I wouldn't have dream to hear one and there it was, Grind, on my first show ! For the records, here are the number of days for the October 29th 2013 :
Page = 18428
Jon = 17784
Trey = 17926
Mike = 17680
Total = 71818
Mine = 12096

Encore

When they came back for the encore, I didn't want it to end. But with Bouncing Around the Room, I thought it would be short. I was wrong.
I love this song. I first heard it as the very first song of A Live One, my second Phish record ever avec Junta. So I was very glad to hear it tonight. I also thought it was another commom piss-song and as an encore, I guess some people left the arena early to avoid traffic jam.
But at the end of the song, they didn't leave, instead, they jump right into Reba ! I was already aware I was witnessing a unique show tonight. The kind of show about which we'll be talking in years to come. But when they started Reba, I felt part of a historic moment.
With Phish, you never know what will happen next. I loved that feeling when you don't know what will happen. Phish is capable of everything, especially what you don't expect. It's like being on top of a mountain, looking down and ready to jump, but you don't know when the wind will blow and push you.
And after this beautiful surprise, they put an end to this evening with a rocker : Good Times, Bad Times.

For their first show in Reading, Phish really knew how to please their fans. Too bad they won't play here anymore...

No, they won't, ever.
Yes, I have a theory :
The only 4 times Reba has been played as an encore (10/29/2013, 10/19/2010, 09/21/1999, 03/31/1991) were the first and only times Phish played a full show at these venues. That means if Phish plays a venue for the first time ever, you may expect a Reba encore (but you won't always have it). On the other way around, if Phish has already played the venue, you won't have a Reba encore. And if Phish does play a Reba encore, the band will never play the venue again ! Simple facts ! ;-)

Set 1: Perfectly fine for the Fall tour; Wolfman's has a ridiculous sustained note by Trey, Walk Away makes an appearance (which always bumps a set up a notch in my book), the Divided Sky is cool if a bit wanting compared to Hampton's, and SOAM wallows in atonal weirdness (maybe a bit too long) before resolving into a neat major-key jam and then (for reasons only Trey can really answer) sliding into Julius. Ah well, can't win 'em all.

Set 2: DWD leads things off, and it starts off as the typical hot-fire DWD jam before cooling down (while still retaining the DWD jam shape) and patiently searching for a theme. About halfway through things get a bit more minor-chord based, then shifts into an upbeat Sparks-esque jam, not quite rocking out but still being propelled forward by Fish as Page goes to his Mellotron-sounding organ and things get nice and mellow. Then, with about five minutes or so to go, the band enters the Tahoe Tweezer rock space (you know the one I'm talking about), but instead of searching for audience participation Trey hits upon a riff that (like so many have pointed out) sounds like an Allman Brothers riff, and the guys roll through the most unique hose jam of a tour with no shortage of uplifting hose jams. This segment really gives what was a perfectly fine Disease beforehand a push into the upper echelon, and it perfectly winds down and transitions (I suppose not segues) into Taste.

Taste is a nice enough version (I do like hearing it, even though I don't really miss it when it's not played regularly), and then 20 Years Later comes in, and I'm expecting the usual nice intense version, but what we get instead is the nicest surprise of the tour (either this or Theme from the Shaft in the tour closer). The version IS nice and intense, but rather than come to its usual close the band the band cranks even harder into the usual jam, Trey's riffs coming close to Heartbreaker without actually becoming Heartbreaker, then mellowing out and getting more '97-ish as the jam suddenly strips away and Page takes over on the organ. Mike steps to the forefront, as he so often does when things get this minimal, and they really lean into this funky jam, Page modulating the mood by switching keys, before Trey jumps back in front and churns out a riff that reminds me a little of American Woman (tell me if I'm wrong on this one). Fish picks up the pace, and we get a really beautiful upbeat jam before Trey finds something that sounds like Piper, says "that sounds like a good idea", and into Piper they go. Given both the fact that 20YL finally harnessed its potential as a jam vehicle, and the jam itself was quite good to boot, this is already one of my favorites of the tour.

Piper rips for a couple minutes, then (in a sign the band's feeling it) morphs into another quicksilver jam, Page cranking away on the organ, Mike and Fish keeping up with him, before Fish goes double-time and the jam roars to a close. #L actually fits here as a breather (another sign of a good set, when #L feels organic and not like "oh, hey, Trey wants to play #L"), then comes a YEM that redeems the painful version from Rochester, slinky and stripped-back yet still capable of hitting a pretty good peak at the end. An extended encore (with a pretty nice Reba in the middle!) is a tremendous way to close out the show.

Final thoughts: The best second set of the run - everything just *works* from top to bottom, and I'd take that YEM in a set any day. If the first set was any better, it'd be the best show, but second best in a group of shows this good is nothing to sneeze at.

I would like to point out that Mike briefly used his power drill during the DWD intro. I could see it from my spot in sec. 102.

This was one HELL of a show, and my first indoor. CTB opener was unexpected and awesome. Seemed like a kind of "Hey thanks for driving out to READING to see us! We're back on the road to AC as soon as the show is done" (No joke, I saw 5 tour buses booking it down Penn St just after they finished their encore… One of which I could see the glow of a fish tank from inside!).

I've heard a bunch of the songs they played tonight live before, but the only song I experienced at back to back shows was YEM (my last show was Merriweather). Cars Trucks Buses, Sparkle, Walk Away, Divided Sky, Twenty Years Later, Grind, and BAtR are the new songs under my belt after tonight's show and what a way to get them there! Extremely well played show, with a lot of interesting twisting and turning that left the crowd scooping brain matter out of their shoes. It's in other reviews, but my GOD that Twenty Years Later was a funky improvisational fuckfest. I can honestly say there wasn't a song in tonights set that brought my mood down. I've even seen BDtNL a couple times and in other instances has been a little bit of a buzzkill in the midst of a fiery second set, but this time I was cutting the rug up with the lady.

Grind second set closer? Let's not forget that they pull that song out for special crowds at special places and times. They appreciate small crowds that do their best to come see them in (this case relatively) out of the way places, and gave us a hell of a show pre-Halloween run where they could have easily given us an OK one. Definitely worth the listen!

It would be easier to review a Beiber show. Because I cannot even describe what I listened to last night. The band is playing with a you ain't seen nothing yet vibe, and it's just crazy. I don't know what happened during the vocal jam, but I'm still trying to find my face. After watching Bittersweet motel, and feeling left out of all the small venues phish Played. I feel luck, lucky to have witnessed musical perfection. (For me).
I'm sure one of you can sum up the show in words that currently evade me. Just wanted to bask for a min with you all.

I'm confused that this Twenty Years Later isn't granted green/red color, or even mentioned in the Noteworthy jam section...? Am I missing something? If you think the jam is crunchy funk, or just meandering that never really goes anywhere, it at least deserves attention as it's clearly a one of a kind version to this point. Just my thoughts.

This show was better than expected for sure. My friend and I chose Reading since it was the closest location to MD. We were expecting a good show with Halloween only being two days away. We were wrong. We saw a classic show. Every song performed had a ton of energy. DWD, YEM and 20 years were absolute gems. This was my 19th show and as I don't get out to see them as easy as I used to, this one was well worth the drive. Hopefully there will be something small in the spring to catch them again. I had some friends go to Hampton and said the same as I did about Reading. The boys are ON and definitely delivering a tour that will be remembered for all time.

i had a great time at this show, my 125th, but who's counting? first new venue & town for the band on the docket after another retro-feeling fall tour. whereas fall '10 felt like a return to 94-95, this year was more a 97-99 feel (minus glens falls). i appreciated the venue selection this tour & getting to visit some storied arenas for the first time.

i didn't make it to glens falls due to a personal commitment, but for every other show this tour my spot always wound up being behind the stage between page & trey, so i'm probably all over the youtubes if i care to look. i think kuroda's work looks better from that perspective & you have stacks right in your face. there's usually more room back there too, but don't tell too many people or it won't be our little secret. none of that rail sardine nonsense. the backs of the floors were getting pretty crowded at some of the shows too

i was pleasantly surprised at will-call when i saw that my seat was an aisle seat right above where the band enters the stage. funny how things like that work out without really planning them. this was the only ticket i bought ahead of time & i don't think i even looked at where the seat was when i purchased it, yet it ended up being in the same place i naturally gravitated towards.

had a scenic drive to town. this tour i've been avoiding highways & taking state routes & it has been very nice. in some cases it really doesn't take much longer & there is virtually no other traffic at all. it's a meditative part of this whole pilgrimage thing we have traveling around with the band. at this point i've already driven most of the major arteries & since road tripping is a hobby it's nice to be able to explore in addition to touring.

wandered reading a bit in the hours preceding the show. another town that seems to shut down around dusk. weeknight granted, but there's just this feel about these places after you've been to however many of them. watched the sunset from the roof of the parking garage overlooking shakedown before getting booted for loitering. went to the adjacent roof & watched the rest.

little quibble, i don't really like hearing phish being played on phish lot, or should i say, the same phish. this band has turned me on to such a variety of good music & i've discovered so much more exploring on my own from there. like pre-show & setbreak music, i see lot as a chance to expand some horizons. if you're going to play phish on lot, then at least play some deep cuts, type II jams or stuff that a casual phan might not have heard. anyway, i digress.

had some beers & an in burger at The Outside In. how could i not stop in with a name like that? silly serendipity. not the exact mike album/movie, but close enough for a good chuckle. the place felt like an 80s office building or high school but that outdated quality is an appeal of traveling to these places on fall tour. made me think of machester nh. of course the collective we finished all their good beer

easy entrance & no search via the side door which ended up being directly in front of my section. went to see the chandeliers too. tiny arena that made me think of utica because there was only the one bowl. bluehairs for staff here, but that worked to my advantage as she was pretty diligent in keeping my aisle space clear. not so much in the second set but whatever, there was still enough room. i'm all about having my dance space. it isn't that much, just the aisle or the seat next to me, but i absolutely can not stand being crammed in. totally defeats the purpose of coming to the show. i'd rather be in the concourse or up in the nosebleeds

always cool to make eye contact with the guys several times through the night & mike actually looked up this time! got 3 of 4, not bad for one night
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i haven't re-listened to anything from this tour yet. i'm sure i could go into more detail when i do, but i have lots of other non phish music to listen to as well.

-i always appreciate a CTB opener & they opened this one up a bit.
-stealing time did its thing, which i enjoy.
-ginseng was up next after having played some of the rarer bluegrass covers over the weekend.
-wolfman's was solid in it's standard first set placement. i'd like to see them open it up but not as much as some other songs, at least the type I jamming is consistently varied.
-sparkle is good for a shot of energy & is becoming more of a once or twice a tour song.
-i like walk away more since the band turned it into walkaprise. this one delivered its intensity but wasn't as prolonged as other versions.
-divided sky continued the lighter trend, hampton's display was the best.
-i was very pleased to hear melt, one of my favorite songs for its deep-dark jamming potential. i thought i might have missed the only version of tour at glens falls. this one went spacey & abstract but was somewhat directionless. i'm fine with that, but this version didn't resolve so it didn't deliver the return to the chords which is the big payoff of the song after going through all the preceding dissonance. i absolutely lost my stuff when the utica version did come around to resolve.
-the bail-out to julius was a head-scratcher. just a jarring choice. trey's allowed to do that though since it's nowhere near as frequent a tendency as in years past & he's actually surprised me a couple times this tour by being open to another section of jamming when i thought things might be winding down for a segue.
-pretty standard, solid first set. actually a little short based on what we're used to getting these days. good people all around. everyone that was there meant business.

there's the disease 2nd set opener. took until the 9th show of tour. they've been paying pretty good attention to setlist variey & song selections this tour. so this is where i would need to listen to this jam again to provide a helpful analysis, but i can say it was consistently great along with the other multi-tiered type II jaunts this tour.

trey's playing with the screeching, special effects sounding delay peals that originated in the storage unit & developed over the first summer 12 tour but dropped off a bit afterwards. glad he's back to really exploring the dynamics of what constitutes music and/or just sound in the confines of a jam or ambient space.

the new thing this tour is the really delayed & distorted chord that he just bounces around the arena (see mike's from woosta), technically he's really not doing much, but it works very well in the confines its being used in & you know, oftentimes less is more.

taste is seriously underplayed. i was very happy to get this. i understand the band has trouble with some of the changes & that probably led to it falling out of rotation. it's similar in structure to maze, page takes a solo, then trey & it's all about building the tension for the big release at the peak. taste also reminds me of limb in that the jams take on a middle eastern feel. just a guess, but those two songs might serve the same purpose which could be another reason we don't see as many tastes

i enjoy twenty years. back in 09 the potential in the outro jam reminded me of saw it again meets carini. finally this song burst forth. this jam is why i lead this kind of life. IT. so i can't help but notice that there hasn't been mention of the strong 'echoes' jam in the space that TYL went into. i'm pretty sure about this one. it's the same chords & vamping as the jam before the song goes into the space/gulls/whale mid-section. might want to check this out & amend the setlist notes

i had a feeling we'd be getting a piper & it hit the spot. piper's role has changed a bit from the 2.0 versions that made it another one of my favorites but it still delivers the goods. from what i recall this version was all about fish's somewhat abstract & tribal beat

in what is becoming a bit of trey pranksterism, a late set #line followed some dark & intense jamming. i get the yin-yang concept but i still don't really think it works. on top of it all, someone actually brought a numberline sign. i'm not trying to hate, but it honestly confused me. might as well bring a possum sign. i was spoiled by the spac 09 & blossom 10 versions. i can enjoy the standard solo for what it is, but this is another case of a song that we all know can jam being held back. what's more, those two versions that did go type II went *dark* so why not continue the theme started by twenty years and go all in?

my yem-sense was tingling. this version actually did some stuff that wasn't just standard for the song. that's pretty great! i'm also cool with them only playing yem twice a tour. speaking of having a 'sense' for a song, the 2nd set C&P is the other one that i never fail to just get a sense is about to drop. we're tapping into something bigger than all of our individual selves. if you've felt IT then you know.

as they were leaving, i told the guys next to me that bouncing wasn't going to be the only encore, but i guess they wanted to get a jump on traffic. i do that too, but i also know when an encore might be worth sticking around for. the shorter than normal first set led me to believe we'd get a treat.
and to conclude the synchronicity & make me think of another fantastic phish experience in augusta, we get another song that is becoming increasingly rare, though the whistling has come back. reba encore is just classy all around.

why not one more? gtbt fits the bill nicely

this is a show where the entire experience of the day, surroundings, etc elevated what others might judge as standard plus two big jams to a very special memory. and to think, all i read beforehand was how seedy reading was

This was a very strong show for several reason of which I will now explain, because my opinion is obviously essential and many have waited several days to read it. Sorry to have kept you.

First, the venue. Reading is a dump of a town. I should know, I have to work there on occassion. Trust me, it sucks, but that doesn't mean the venue is bad. As one who has seen Phish since 1990 in small bars, this size I really think fits them well. Not so big that your overwhelmed by the size of the venue and zeal is somewhat diluted, but not so small that you lose the spirit of an energized gathering of phans. Security was fairly laxed and friendly, parking was fine and traffic wasn't outrageous. The sound quality was ok, I guess, I'm not a good judge of that...I could hear everything.

Song Selection: I really enjoyed the song selection of this show, a good combination of rock, funk, country, progressive and trippy. As well as a nice pallatte of songs covering their whole career, including some acapella. I felt like I was back at a mid 1990's show. Throw in a couple of strong (and diverse) covers and you have a well crafted set list. Also, I'm not sure how often they play 3 of their most structured compositional songs in one show. Divided Sky, YEM and Reba all are some of their more complex classics that I think are in the Mt. Rushmore of Phish's Progressive compositional songs (a la Pink Floyd or Yes) with very structured, complex and long intro's. Can we get the Phish.net folks to research this??

SET ONE: Musically, I felt they were a bit restrained and more on the spacey side this set. CTB, Number Line, and Ginsing were all good starters, nothing truly memorable for me, but they were tight and Page and Mike seemed to be taking the lead. Wolfman's Brother is a great groove and certainly perked up the crowd. My expectations for this song (and I believe the crowds) are usually high, so when the jam went more to the soft and spacey side and then went back to the refrain, there wasn't much fanfare. I was very happy to hear Walk Away, just a great tune to cover. This version wasn't as strong as other Walk Away's Phish has done, but certainly a quality tune.
Divided Sky...well here are my thoughts. Divided Sky is like the worst blow job I ever had...it was awesome. DS is really just one of those standards that is always inspiring. That being said, there is a progression in the final jam. Sometimes they go through it 3 times, sometimes 5, sometimes 7...and when they go through that progression 7 times you know it! This was a restrained DS, I think only going through 3 serious progressions and i really feel Trey held back a bit. Now the pause with everyone holding the lighters (remember lighters flaring before encores???) was very very cool.
SOAM is another classic, but this jam got muddled and lost, and I think it never finished because they got lost in it and didn't know how to get back....does that make sense? I just felt the jam lacked cohesion. And I know SOAM gets to a point where things get lost, but then they find themselves and get back in a groove. It didn't seem to happen here.
Julius is simply a great tune, excellent jam and a strong way to end a set. Not much more to say other than it left the crowd hungry for the second set.

Second Set: I'll recap below, but if anyone truly thinks the first set even came close to the second set then they must have been up in the Pagoda.
DWD was outstanding! I don't know about anyone else, but because it was the show before Halloween, I was listening to jams wondering if I would hear hints of what they would play for Halloween. I swear I heard some very Doors-esque stuff from Paige, and then there was definitely an "I Know You Rider" Grateful Dead Europe '72 thing going on. Top notch DWD, that alone elevated the show.
Taste was very solid and had the crowd very pumped once completed. Then came 20 Years Later, a tune I admit I'm not as familiar with, and the opening definitely deflated the crowd....BUT man the jam was absolutely killer, redeemed the exhale of the intro. I'm looking forward to re-listening to this one. And from reading the comments above, apparently this was a stand out version.
Piper, BDTNL and YEM were all very good, not particular eventful but solid. YEM is a lot like Divided Sky, never bad, always satisfying.

Encore: REBA encore is about all you need to know. It was almost like getting a 3rd set. Thank God Reading lets you go until 11:45 instead of 11:30. Add a stellar Good Times, Bad Times and you have a damn good show

Best show of the tour?? I don't know? Only show on the tour I saw, and I loved it, especially the 2nd set and encore.

Hello! As we all gear up for what is expected to be an amazing Halloween run in Atlantic City, Phish gave us all an early trick-or-treat with a gem from Reading, Pennsylvania. This show was special to me for several reasons. I had many friends and family in attendance since Reading is within an hour of my home and it was also my 70th show... but that's enough about me...on to the show!

As the band took the stage, Trey leaned over to Page to discuss the opener. The funky organ intro to Cars, Trucks, Buses emerged and got the crowd moving right away. They had some energetic musical dialogue during CTB but had some problems nailing some changes and the ending. Trey immediately let Fish have it and busted into Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan. This version was on fire and attained an excellent type-1 peak before closing out with the last chorus. The set kept rolling with the blue grass guitar riff to open Ginseng Sullivan. The crowd put on their dancing shoes and sang along about their muddy water Mississippi delta home. The first surprise of the night for me occurred next when Page laid down the opening piano chords to Wolfman's Brother. I was definitely expecting this to be played on Halloween in AC, but it was an excellent treat. The interplay between the band was on point and they brought Wolfman's to its usual peak of glory. Sparkle was played flawlessly followed by the powerful rocker, Walk Away. Divided Sky was amazing. Melt took us all down a black hole and back again. I remember telling my friend next to me that this was the kind of black hole that Phish is unafraid to go down, which separates them from any other jam band. Julius was butter on the popcorn.

The second set was full of jaw dropping improv and extended versions of DWD and 20YL. They also played strong versions of Taste, Piper, and Number Line. Trey started YEM before Mike got the memo, but they finished strong. Follow that with a three song encore consisting of Bouncing, Reba, and Good Times, Bad Times and you end up with one of the best shows of an already powerful Fall Tour. Phish is amazing and can do anything right now.

I hit up my first show in two years last night, and man, it was solid. The my last couple shows were a disappointment, Merriweather in '11, and some 2.0 shows that were 'meh' at best. Last night was a complete 180 from those shows, and based on the most recent reviews of Worcester and Hartford, it was a continuation of the high energy, excellent playing.

The theme of the night was patience, and that patience led to the development of some solid jams. In listening to other shows, and reading PT reviews about one of the members ducking out of a jam into a new song too early, last night saw the band, especially Trey, show patience, and let the jam build and evolve. The other thing i noticed was an isolated Gordo. Not sure if this was due to my seat (behind Page, facing his Hammond directly), a bad mix, or whatever, but it was like Gordo stage left, rest of Phish stage right. He was the last one on stage, last one off, he was low in the mix, and his tone was a little off. i'll get into more details shortly.

Show started w/ Cars, Trucks, Buses. Great opener and Page just tore it up from the start. I remember thinking that if i just walked on stage and started tearing it up this easily, it was going to be a good night. Throughout the tune, i was waiting for Trey to start playing over Page to get to his solo, but it didn't happen. Page controlled the tune and you could see and hear Trey accenting Page's solo and sitting back until Page gave him the nod. Trey's solo was short and while the band botched the transition back into the melody, Fish filled the botch seamlessly and the band finished the tune nicely. Stealing time was a great 2nd tune, and here is where i fell victim to my lack of patience. During the solo, Trey sat back, and i thought some whales were in danger of death, but he was letting the other guys build a wall to play off of. the jam built slowly and steadily then Trey turned it on and started filling each and every crack of the proverbial wall.

I think Mr. Minor or Andy Gadiel said they judged a show by the 3rd tune. Get the opener and 2nd tune out of the way, and see how they handle the 3rd tune as a barometer for the rest of the show. Ginseng was tight. The band started it together and Trey's bluegrass picking was tight. Vocals were great, solos were great, song done. nice work, now onto Wolfmans. loved this version. Trey was hitting the offbeats during the last 'its the wolfman's brother' vocals and as soon as he was done, he and Gordo stopped and it was just Fish and Page throwing down some nasty hard funk. Not like '97, but hard toned clavinet and a steady 4/4 that once again built a solid foundation to jam off. Trey took the lead about 3/4 of the way through, and put a solid ending to the tune. Sparkle came and went, nice to hear, done and done. Right after the end, Trey hit the opening chords to Walkaway and the crowd came right back. Page was red faced and signing his heart out, Fish was filling the spaces like he owned the tune and the jam was again, solid and to the point. Divided was next. it was about this time where I realized i had to pee. I put Divided into the same category as Runaway Jim and Foam. They're going to play it, they'll play it well, and it'll be very similar to all previous versions. i listened to the composition, Trey was a bit muddled towards the latter part of the comp before the break, and as the pause started, i hit the head. no regrets here. short line, grabbed a drink and made my way back in to hear the end. Split Open was next. Before Fish started, there was a lot of chatter back and forth, as if they were planning something. When i heard the opening drums, i immediately thought of the Glen Falls version. Please, please don't shit on the song this time the way you did a few nights ago. Apparently this was the band's 'sorry about the last time we played this tune' apology. they nailed the composition, acapella was good then came the jam. it was dark, it was tight, it was a constant build. no one lead it, it was a true group effort and it was intense. The jam climaxed and within a few seconds, the band changed modes and it went from this dark, minor laden jam, to a one chord, major subtle jam. I had no idea what just happened, and by looking around, everyone else was in shock was well (in the best way possible). the transition was smooth and the second part of the jam segued nicely into a hotter than hell Julius closer. No whale calls, not waiting around by anyone. melody, jam, fire..... end of set.

we contemplated the 2nd set opener. 1st Tube? Buried Alive? as the band came on, Trey and Page started playing with high notes, some intensely distorted harmonics, then Gordo dropped the DWD line. This tune was the epitome of the patience and evolution i referenced earlier. They get through the first part and as the jam slows down, Trey starts hitting the D major chord. I immediately thought back to the last Merriweather show when they opened the 2nd set w/ Tweezer, and within 2 min of the jam part, when into Taste. i felt robbed, you don't do that to Tweezer, ever... So Trey is hitting the D major and i'm wondering if he's going to kill this jam and head into Taste or Jim... patience, patience, patience, and from there we heard a solid jam building off the D major strumming. its as if they were trying to get back into the main chord progression, but the one chord jam just felt good. from there, they went into Taste, perfectly... Taste was played well, great to hear it again and once that was done, Trey started 20yrs later. this is a dark song, and the and put on the musical costume, falling into each crevice.... CK5 kept the red and yellow lights for most of the jam, it was reminiscent of the old school Tweezers, the intense stares and the low end distortion. nasty... as we held our heads low and tight, Trey started Piper. much different mood than 20yrs, but once the lyrics were done, they fell right back into the darkness. at one point in the jam, Gordo dropped a bomb and my chest vibrated... then it happened, Number line. some jackass had a #-line sign earlier. i thought the band established that signs were done. and, if you still bring one, why bring one for something that's already in rotation? i'm blaming the kid with the sign. its a great tune, but had no place in that set. happy happy, bullshit! we were dark, nasty, intense, no place for happy happy oh my friend... oh well, it happens, it happened, they played it well and it ended.

Once the band finished, Trey talked to Fish and Page, no one talked to Gordo. ok, so they're ending the set w/ something that Fish starts or Trey and Page. Gordo just sat there, and i kept thinking, they didn't tell Gordo. So YEM begins and there's no base in the opening comp. Shit, no one told Gordo! i guess after 30 yrs, you can pick it up quickly. I was excited to hear this. i was listening to the Merriweather version from this summer, and it was a Gordo led jam. Last night was no different. right after Page's solo, Trey, for the first time that night, looked right at Gordo and he took it from there. Mike laid down a solid slap groove and the band went off. Trey took the reigns briefly and then gave way for Gordo's ending solo. Trey was feeling it, but man, dude can't dance. at one point, he was twirling on stage as Gordo was high up on the neck of the base just cranking out some sick rock/funk/dirty notes. vocal jam was amusing and then Grind was a nice ending. btw, i swear i heard 'Georgia' in the vocal jam. a nod to Allmans musical costume?

Encore! Bouncing... ok, well, please, make this a 2 song encore. REBA!!!! really? yes! one little complaint here. in the 2nd verse, Fish never hit the bass drum, he was just messing around on the blocks. it was an empty verse w/out the bass drum. it didn't take long to forget about that as the band nailed the composition. i think everyone hopes and get's nervous about Reba composition. its not easy and demands precision. well, it was precise and nearly flawless. Great jam to end the show and as the whistling began, i put on my coat. but wait, a 3rd tune, really? hell yeah! when you hear the opening chords to Good Times, Bad Times, you can't help but to get the goose bumps. it was LOUD, Page and Trey were screaming (in tune). Trey shredded through the composition and solo. did i mention it was LOUD???? the only thing that would have topped that encore was a Sabatoge to follow, played with the intensity of the 8/8/98 debut. i'm not complaining.... i left the arena with an ear to ear grin and a slight ringing in the ears.

as we walked out, the 4 buses were being escorted out. The band literally walked off the stage and into the buses. trying to catch a peak, we kept looking and bus #2 had Page sitting right next to the driver, smiling and waving to everyone as the motorcade made its way through downtown Reading.

Reading was solid. If you're heading to AC, you should be damn psyched. the band is in full gear, and its only going to get better!

1st show in Reading, PA after 30 years as a group, and these guys kill it. Wow. 20 minutes from my house, and what a show - if you weren't there, you missed something.

"CTB" opener was nice and jazzy...got the mood going. Great "Stealing Time", "Ginseng Sullivan" was nice to hear as well. Nice funky "Wolfman's" and "Sparkle">"Walk Away" was definitely a treat...and then "Divided Sky" starts. Now, I might be a bit biased when it comes to this, as it is one of my favorite songs of ever, but this version was phenomenal. And then "SOAM" which sent me into space for 15 minutes...a rather odd transition into "Julius", but a solid first set.

Then, the second set.

Man oh Man, what a set. "DwD" opener was one of the most awe-inspiring, uplifting things I have ever heard; and a > into "Taste"(which was also fantastic)? Holy crap! "Twenty Years Later"? Jam was indescribable. Interesting > into "Piper"(rather straightforward, but ROCKING)..."#line" was good. Not a real extended crazy jam, but it worked. And YEM! What a YEM; Mike and Trey were on FIRE here. Great great interplay between the two. The vocal jam was pure sci-fi freakout stuff. And the set closer? "Grind". WOW.

If that weren't enough, we get an encore that starts with "BAtR > REBA". REBA ENCORE. Played FLAWLESSLY. GTBT closes out the first ever show in Reading...

This was show # 65 for me, and the first one with my girlfriend First set was a good time, very standard except the Cars Trucks Buses opener had a little extra mustard on it. Divided Sky was really good too, definitely dug the lighters in the air during the pause. Also of note, I think that was the only Ginseng I've seen out of my 25 shows I've caught so far this year. So that's kind of cool. Other than that, just an average-great first set. The 2nd set on the other hand is the clear winner in this show.

The boys came back on and Mike started toying with his underwater effect which can only mean one thing: Down With Disease. Also of note was the Pop Goes the Weasel tease during the intro. That was a lot of fun and I enjoyed singing the tease out loud to my girlfriend. Very clean rendition of the song itself, and the jam starts out with Trey playing a somewhat melodic run of notes from the 5:40 mark to the 6:25 mark when Fish kicks things up a minute just before giving back into the current beat they all had going. Trey picked up on Fish's extra fills and really starts playing some nice runs of notes after that. Just after 7 minute mark we hit our first mini-peak of the jam, and around 7:30, Trey is changing his notes by alot with lovely piano work accompanying him along with Fish's driving beat. Just over 8 minutes in and things look like they're starting to cook up, the band is starting to gel together and become one. A little bit of a fumble at the 8:35 to 8:40 mark but the boys recover the fumble and do a good job keeping it after that. Minute 9 brings along just a hint of darkness. And seriously Fishman is on fire for this jam, Page starts layering the jam on his piano very nicely. Mike finally chimes in at the 9:49 mark and now things are starting to get very pretty, very mellow. Not too mellow though thanks to Fish's driving drumbeat. Trey is playing some very nice chords here. At the 10:40 mark Trey starts a theme that I can't help to think I've heard him play before. Regardless, its some amazing shit. Fishman, Mike, and Page are all right behind him on this one. Really, Fishman and Page especially are the glue holding this thing together right now. After the 12 minute mark Mike is starting to gain some prominence in this jam. All the while, Trey and Fishman are so in sync its awesome. Trey starts on the wah-wah for a few measures at 12:40, then shifts to a more serene tone with Page playing some awesome fills as well as Fishman. 13:23 things are starting to get weird, and weird in a good way. At this point, we are very much in type-2 territory. 13:48 mark Page is mimicking the notes Trey is playing on his guitar with one of his synthesizers, and let me tell you it is amazing. Mike drops in a few solid bass lines to remind everyone he's totally into this jam too. 14:40 mark Trey is playing very mellow runs of notes, and now it's a full band type 2 space jam. Fishman holding a verrrrry solid beat, Page dropping some lovely synth stuff at the 15:38 mark with very nice work by Mike in the background. 15:53 Trey sounds like he's coming up with a new theme with Fishman right behind him, seriously this is an awesome jam already. Nice bombs by Mike as he and the rest of the band are following that theme Trey has been working on for over a minute now, patience is the key here. At 17:08, Trey is starting to take that theme he started over a minute ago and play an AWESOME run of notes! He is playing so beautifully here and it comes with perfect piano work right behind him and Fishman driving this beat home. Trey is seriously playing an awesome themed-solo. 18:00 minute mark and we're starting to hit our big peak, band is 100% in sync. 18:30 and Trey is starting to go off big time! Not obnoxiously, actually very melodically with the band. 18:54 and now we have a full band peak, and Trey takes us to the cosmos with his playing. 19:25 and we have officially hit the peak. Glorious HOSE going on here folks, with a full peak especially from big red until the 20:00 mark exactly. Boy wasn't that an awesome 35 second long peak. From there, Fishman keeps the beat going with Page and Mike laying down a very solid groove in which Trey is playing that same theme from the 15:53 minute mark of the jam. That doesn't last long at all though and the band starts to slow it down quite a bit. 21:00 mark and now we are officially in mellow, very serene land. Great bass work from Mike here.

>to Taste, definitely not a -> but definitely a >.
Taste was a very standard rendition, and quite frankly even though this is one of my favorite tunes I just don't see them nailing the composed part like they used to in their prime. But hey, it's all good because I personally thought they killed that jam.

2nd major of the set is up next, the 20 Years Later. After the last chorus is over with at the 5:02 mark, the standard 20YL jam occurs and Page is on fire with the organ. All of a sudden, this is no longer a standard 20YL jam because just within a minute, Trey is hitting some extremely funky notes. All the while, Mike and Page are owning it behind big Red with Fish of course holding everything together. Page particularly on his organ is just killing it and we're not even at the 7 minute mark yet. Ok, we just hit it now. Whatever. Trey starts playing some Saw It Again-esque notes shortly after the 7 minute mark, and its followed by some very distorted notes from Trey all the while the rest of the boys are killin it. Page on that organ man.... jesus!! 8 minutes in and he is simply killing it. 8:20 shows us rock-star Trey with Fishman providing the perfect drumming fills with Page still goin ham on that organ! Rock-star Trey is still killin it, but on the snap of a dime he goes to straight funk-star Trey. but 9:00 we are in a full-out funk jam for 30 or seconds until Trey decides to go for a more rock based song. Page, still on his organ killin it of course. Mike is playing some nice fills with Fish. 10:00 mark and we got some soft playing from Trey, Mike takes over the spotlight for a second along with Page. Page is still playing that damn organ and I'm loving every second of it. Very funky jam here at the 10:25 mark, Fishman shifts fills at about the 10:45 mark to bring this jam a different feel. We are in full type 2 territory here folks!! 11:20 shows Trey developing a theme with Page realllllly laying it down on the organ! Fishman playing a very appropriate beat with Mike right behind him. Page and his organ.... holy shit. The 11:40-48 mark is all Page baby. After that Trey comes back in with some nice runs of chords. Rather standard rock-chords from Trey over Page's amazing organ work and Fish's driving beat sounds amazing right now, especially with Mike's great fills exactly where we want them. 12:44 and Trey starts playing a rather upbeat set of chords, Fishman almost immediately changes his beat to something more upbeat as well. Mike laying down the funk of course, and I think this is the first time the whole jam Page isn't slamming the organ. Instead he's on the piano, 13:20 is the start of a lovely jam. Amazing piano fills from Page at the 13:37 mark. And Trey is clearly starting to run out of gas on this one, but the rest of the band is in full glory. Particularly Fish and Page.

Pretty smooth > to Piper, even though the 20YL jam was still going. Piper is an extremely average version, although it's definitely on the shorter side (8 minutes) it's still an enjoyable version due to Page's organ playing in the middle of the jam. Besides that though, not much to this version of Piper IMHO. I guess there's a pretty cool but very short space funk jam from the 7 minute mark to the end of the song. I would've love to have seen where that jam would've gone if they kept playing. Instead Trey chose #line

I'm just not a fan of number line, so I used this song to take a much needed bathroom break. Got back in time for the ending solo/conclusion of the song just in time for the last highlight of the 2nd set.

YEM- very clean rendition of this classic song. Almost flawless to my ears. After the tramps jam, we go into the real jam of the song. Things start slowly with a nice little funk jam, Mike owning the jam so far. Trey eventually chimes in with Fish and now they have a nice little beat going for sure. Page hops in on the clav at the 12 minute mark to give this jam the only thing it was missing. Trey plays a rather interesting run of notes and chords to my opinion, something that truly sets this version of YEM apart from others I've seen. Page playng on the clav truly gives this YEM a much funkier feel than usual, same with Mike's awesome bass playing. Other than that, things get to the normal raging YEM jam we've come to expect from 3.0. Page really shines on this one though, with some truly awesome fills on his piano, same with Mike and his bass. Trey tears his solo to shreds though with amazing full band accompaniment. VJ starts at the 17 minute mark. The YEM was followed by Grind, and what's to say about Grind that hasn't already been said before?

Bouncing Around the Room to start the encore was very nice, my girlfriend and I were in total bliss by this point. Dancing with each other, holding each other. What can I say, we both love the song.

Up next in the encore was Reba!!! First Reba encore since the last fall tour they did if I'm not mistaken! This Reba was truly amazing, I loved every second of it. Danced like a manic that's for sure. & to follow Reba was a Good Times Bad Times that brought the house down. Great ending to a phenomenal show.

Hear the DWD jam and 20YL jam at all costs. Those were 2 truly amazing jams. 4.4/5.0 seems like the perfect rating for this show. I had a truly great time, and I'd definitely put this in the upper 15 shows I've seen if not top 10.

So after not seeing any Phish, besides Alpharetta 10', and not really listening to the boys much up until 6 months prior, this is clearly the best I have heard them sound as a cohesive unit since fall 10'.....and yes Trey in his playing as well. There is energy and purpose in what I am listening too and I think this show exemplifies it. All the other Fall shows are quite above average to superb for their respective style these days. It is refreshing to hear. I already get excited about listening to the shows for those little gems and now it is back to listening for the entire shows this tour. From what I have listened to this is the best show thus far on tour. Have a great time in A.C.! I am hoping for a northeast trip around uhh maybe late December.

I just wanna say I agree with those of you (hopefully most) that thought this show was GREAT, and most definitely had some incredible moments. We were in sec 104 went in earlier than usual, lot was eh, Highlights; Love the CTB open, Walk away has taken on a tweeprisy jam I also noticed @ Blossom '12. Insanely out there dark cacophonous chaos that was the Melt jam contrasted the tight >Julius, DWD>Taste been waiting/hoping to see a Taste and that Disease speaks for itself.

20YL was great I feel like some newer songs are really (as we saw last night) are starting to take shape jam wise. Some phans dismiss them as beer or pissbreak songs (I think thats kinda disrespectful). I over all loved the selection of songs. YEM was great, tight, loved the "AAAAA!!" rise to the Gm>C9 Jam I believe it was Page went "AAAAAAMOTHERFUCKER!" I think Trey was thrown off a bit lol (delaying the "boy!"). Vocal jam was one of the most Psychedelic I've ever heard. Face Melted. It was very vocal and directed by them in the moment ex: bringitupbringitupbringitup!

Then of course the moment we had all really waited for in the Encore. Although BATR is a beautiful song that I love dearly, I feel like it was a classic Phishy psych out cause that could've been it (in our minds @ the show) BUT.. NO then got an incredible, rare Encore REBA! I thought GTBT was a perfect show close RAW Trey nailed some classic fiery fast Jimmy Page style Licks. The last half of the Zep cover was classic rising action from Trey and perfect amount of dark balance from Page. 100% heard Voodoo Child teases from trey in that last half of GTBT. There's a lot of special stuff that was missed in the show notes. I saw a DEG tease added but yea Voodoo, Mike drill action ETC. It's there guys lets listen back and find 'em!!! Too special a show not to. Sorry I'm not the best reviewer format wise. Just wanted to share my thoughts and observations.

P.S. I'm from Ohio and took the PA turnpike.. ended up paying like $50 in tolls on the 7 hour drive to Reading. Anyone else experience this? Well worth it. I loved and Raged every second of that Show!

This is the show that set me back on the Phish bus. I had seen them on and off for a while, due to little interest and not really enjoying the playing over the years, both before and after the hiatus. This show turned me around. Possibly the best show i've seen live, from start to finish.
Great show to introduce newbies to as well.

8:00 mark of Twenty Years Later you can hear Trey exploring "The Birds"..a song not to be heard for a year debuted in Vegas '14 during the Halloween set - amazing how some of these jams contain these sparks of what will be. This show stands out of course, the jams got deep and comfy in that small arena with some heavy hitters (DWD, 20yrs, YEM, even the Split was nasty). http://phish.in/2013-10-29/twenty-years-later

i have never written a review for any show. cars trucks buses is a perfect way to open up a show, we knew it was gonna be a smoker. stealing time was pretty straight forward. i love ginseng and they have to play this song more. i remember this wolfman's being on the shorter side, but oh so funky. by sparkle i was pretty faced and i was laughing laughing and falling apart. walk away was a straight rocker i remember feeling the energy during this one. this divided sky was probably the best one ive heard live . MELT started getting real dissonant and out there, buuut trey wanted to play julius. fine by me it was rockin. excellent first set. now this second set is why people remember Reading. DOWN WITH DISEASE holy shit i felt like it would never end. absolutely soaring jam that led into taste which i remember as being pretty tight. 20 years later- not a song ANYONE would expect a sick jam to come out of, but it happened. i turned to my bro at one point and said "i know you rider" he definitely heard it too. i remember someone saying they heard parts of sugar magnolia in disease. this piper was really short but it was really tight and funky. now, at almost every GREAT show ive seen, trey always throws in a #line towards the end of the second set, not sure why. But there was so much energy during this show it didnt put a damper on it at all. then that YEM. oh so very funky. gordo was really laying down the thick funk. everyone was groovin super hard. i always love a good grind to end a set. best encore ever. we all knew they wouldnt do a standalone bouncin' encore after that smoker of a show. as the last notes of bouncin were happening i heard the reba intro in my head, then it fucking happened!! i couldnt believe it. then to top it off GTBT. what a fucking show. really glad i found a dude with needlepoint as i was entering the arena.

DWD: This has become one of my favorite DWD. Such a patient jam with so many discoveries along the way!
YEM: Instrumental jam just clicks. That's what I like right dere! Vocal jam's a lotta fun as always (not the best vocal jam i've heard musically, but the other jamming makes up for it and this is truly a spectacular YEM)! Definitely a must listen.
PIPER: Great jam that combines the tightness of a 73 jam with the spaciness of 97-98 with a Segwe into a nice BDTNL!

Just popping in here to push for more recognition of the Twenty Years Later jam. Never thought much of this song before this show and my gawd is it good.

While I don't have much experience listening to many versions of this song, I've got to think that this one should be considered the quintessential performance thus far.

Also, and maybe I'm crazy, but towards the end of the jam (12:42), Trey breaks into a high chord strum somewhat out of nowhere and whenever I hear it, it sounds to me like it could have become a seamless transition into Free. While it's not the same chord that starts the song, it's the right key at the very least and I can't help but think that when I listen to this.

3rd show of the tour for me, the Phish from Vermont are slayin it every night. The first 3 in the second set are so well done. DWD is so tight and goes in soooo many directions, dark, uplifting, groove city. Gotta love IT. Enjoy this ride, phish in the fall are for real.

I dunno about anyone else, and I'll have to listen back to the recording to verify, but I thought I heard a couple Allman Bros teases in there last night. I don't remember the song but I thought I heard mountain jam at some point, and def no way out during YEM. It was the 42nd anniversary of Duane Allman's death.

oh. my. gawd. 2nd row. so what if it was behind the stage. trey took a longer than usual solo in cars trucks and buses, and faulty planned was a scorcher. great tight versions of ginseng, sparkle, walk away , divided sky and Julius. trey did a fun and funky lag on his " bro the her" just before the jam started, which was latched onto by fishman, making the jam start off extra funky. soam was a psychotic dance party, which wound down nicely into a delicate interplay, andwhile awaiting to see how they'd bring it back to its natural conclusion, Trey stats Julius. that was totally unexpected, slightly disappointing, but in the end, genius and perfect.

about 5 minutes into the disease jam - maybe even more - it seemed like a noodlefest going nowhere fast, and I found myself hoping the crimson dego would give up and abort it to find something more interesting to play. then something happened. the fire git lit, it gets quieter, then the roller coaster ride of where are we, are they playing a different song now , they're playing free, is this a dead song, sugar magnolia, I know this song moment that happens at every great show occurs. these we're the voices of my neighbors, not in my head. never heard anything like this from disease. truly awesome. taste was longer and funkier than usual, but I think trey pissed of page by signaling the end of page's solo before page was ready. trey held back on his solo, giving the taste jam a more open, dancy vibe than normal, then the old school conclusion and pretty tight ending. stop. this is the only stop.
I remember thinking during twenty years later, Shit, this may be the one that illustrates the potential of this song's dark, I saw it again type feel, then laughed to myself because I always think that and it never does. holy shit there it goes. the darkness somehow yields more funk with a free-like rhythm to it. and away it goes. then another great piper, again focusing more on fast tempoed rhythmic interplay than one man wailing. number line was appropriate but nothing too crazy. this set was super reflective and themed lyrically like a guy celebrating the highs and lows of a remarkable existence. then yem - absolutely nailed (almost - they actually got lost right before the spacey part), with a jam more unique than I may have ever seen. jam starts off with trey letting fishman be the focus, then mike comes a thumping. this set the stage for a very different style of jam than we are used to, and it was awesome. great vocal jam and fun grind.
then comes the encore. one of the best rebas I have seen - no mistakes. with a jam that, because this was the encore I guess, there seemed to be no rush at all to bring it to its conclusion. unbelievable 110th show, full of songs I've heard a million times, but NEVER quite like this.
oh yeah - Dave's energy guide abound in disease and taste.
snarky side notes for the otherwise awesome crowd - if you're gonna sneak down from your seat to get a better look and crowd the people down there, at least pay attention to the music instead of shouting to your friend and screwing around on your phone. and to the guy throwing glowsticks at the end from behind the stage , yes you hit a cymbal in perfect time and it was awesome, but you didn't need to try to recreate your glory by hitting fishman I'm the back like 8 times during the reba jam. I hope he finds you and throws crap at you while you are trying to do the hardest part of your job!

For me, last night's show at Reading was an enjoyable one, but so far ranks the lowest for me this year out of the five shows I saw: SPAC 1,2,3; PNC and last night. Highlights for me include some songs I heard for the first time like Cars Trucks Buses, Taste & Walk Away and a very enjoyable DWD.

So, first let's talk about the arena. Since I have mainly been seeing the boys play outdoors and not indoors (aside from the past few MSG NYE runs) it was nice to actually road trip to Reading and check out a new town, a new venue and meet a few new folks to hang out with at future shows. It was also nice to hear the band in a small venue that holds no more than 9,000 people. All of this was worth the price of admission in my book. Plus the beer stand of Stoudts Brewing Company was nice too. (anyone else feel like we were seeing a show in Canada with all of those Labatt Blue & Molson beer stands?!? That was a first at any venue I've been to. "Not that there is anything wrong with it" ….I'm just saying…)

So, on to the show as they say. The show started at roughly 8:05 and the boys slowly kicked off the night by starting into Cars Trucks Buses. For me it was a nice treat to hear (my first time) and fit my own mood that I was in. Kinda nice…. I felt the show kind of slowly progressed through the first set and the band was in no hurry to speed up the tempo. Things kicked up for me when Wolfman's started up and to be honest, kind of fizzled out when hearing Divided Sky. The song was played fine (I couldn’t hear any flubs from where I was), it's just that I wasn’t in the mood to hear it and I felt that Walk Away was played so strongly that another song choice could have been better…maybe Moma Dance?? Even a KDF would have worked better IMO. I loved hearing SOAM but wish it was finished but they transitioned nicely into Julius. When they closed the first set after barely over an hour of playing, I felt a little unsatisfied but was anxious to hear what was waiting for me when I returned with more beers and some crab/cheese/delicious fries a half hour later.

The 2nd set started off very nicely with a very well played and thoroughly enjoyable DWD. Clocking in at over 20 minutes and providing some really nice experimentation during the 2nd half of the song, it left the crowd very satisfied and ecstatic when they transitioned nicely into Taste. I really liked this segue and would recommend you download the show just to hear these two songs. Although Taste ended sorta abruptly and Trey started into Twenty Years Later which resulted in a lot of bathroom breaks for a ton of folks, I enjoyed its performance. I wasn’t' a fan at first but after a few minutes of intently listening to what the boys were offering with this song and in particular this performance of it, I immediately enjoyed it and was thankful I didn’t leave for another Molson. YEM was standard and nothing to get excited about and they closed out the set with a whimper and not a bang with Grind. Nothing to complain about however.

BATR was a great way to kick off the encore and I wish they kept it going a little longer but I could tell they were trying to pack a few goodies in the encore before heading off stage, so I knew it wasn't going to happen. Loved, loved, loved hearing Reba as an encore song choice. I think this was only the 4th time the boys have done that. Well done guys. The crowd went apeshit when Trey struck that first chord. GTBT was a great way to close the encore too. Personally, I never get tired of hearing it and think they do an amazing job of covering it.

On to Atlantic City folks! Although I have to take the kids trick or treating tomorrow night, I will see you all there on Friday & Saturday! Happy Halloween everyone…..

For me, last night's show at Reading was an enjoyable one, but so far ranks the lowest for me this year out of the five shows I saw: SPAC 1,2,3; PNC and last night. Highlights for me include some songs I heard for the first time like Cars Trucks Buses, Taste & Walk Away and a very enjoyable DWD.

So, first let's talk about the arena. Since I have mainly been seeing the boys play outdoors and not indoors (aside from the past few MSG NYE runs) it was nice to actually road trip to Reading and check out a new town, a new venue and meet a few new folks to hang out with at future shows. It was also nice to hear the band in a small venue that holds no more than 9,000 people. All of this was worth the price of admission in my book. Plus the beer stand of Stoudts Brewing Company was nice too. (anyone else feel like we were seeing a show in Canada with all of those Labatt Blue & Molson beer stands?!? That was a first at any venue I've been to. "Not that there is anything wrong with it" ….I'm just saying…)

So, on to the show as they say. The show started at roughly 8:05 and the boys slowly kicked off the night by starting into Cars Trucks Buses. For me it was a nice treat to hear (my first time) and fit my own mood that I was in. Kinda nice…. I felt the show kind of slowly progressed through the first set and the band was in no hurry to speed up the tempo. Things kicked up for me when Wolfman's started up and to be honest, kind of fizzled out when hearing Divided Sky. The song was played fine (I couldn’t hear any flubs from where I was), it's just that I wasn’t in the mood to hear it and I felt that Walk Away was played so strongly that another song choice could have been better…maybe Moma Dance?? Even a KDF would have worked better IMO. I loved hearing SOAM but wish it was finished but they transitioned nicely into Julius. When they closed the first set after barely over an hour of playing, I felt a little unsatisfied but was anxious to hear what was waiting for me when I returned with more beers and some crab/cheese/delicious fries a half hour later.

The 2nd set started off very nicely with a very well played and thoroughly enjoyable DWD. Clocking in at over 20 minutes and providing some really nice experimentation during the 2nd half of the song, it left the crowd very satisfied and ecstatic when they transitioned nicely into Taste. I really liked this segue and would recommend you download the show just to hear these two songs. Although Taste ended sorta abruptly and Trey started into Twenty Years Later which resulted in a lot of bathroom breaks for a ton of folks, I enjoyed its performance. I wasn’t' a fan at first but after a few minutes of intently listening to what the boys were offering with this song and in particular this performance of it, I immediately enjoyed it and was thankful I didn’t leave for another Molson. YEM was standard and nothing to get excited about and they closed out the set with a whimper and not a bang with Grind. Nothing to complain about however.

BATR was a great way to kick off the encore and I wish they kept it going a little longer but I could tell they were trying to pack a few goodies in the encore before heading off stage, so I knew it wasn't going to happen. Loved, loved, loved hearing Reba as an encore song choice. I think this was only the 4th time the boys have done that. Well done guys. The crowd went apeshit when Trey struck that first chord. GTBT was a great way to close the encore too. Personally, I never get tired of hearing it and think they do an amazing job of covering it.

On to Atlantic City folks! Although I have to take the kids trick or treating tomorrow night, I will see you all there on Friday & Saturday! Happy Halloween everyone…..

It's painful to listen to a grown man who's been at this for 30 years play guitar this badly. "Wolfman's" literally sounds it's being played by some teenager who's just been handed his first Languedoc. And "Split", good lord. For the second consecutive rendition Trey can't figure out what key to play in, and the jam is five minutes of atonal musical diarrhea. Hey, I applaud him for doing something different, trying to be "experimental", but I'd applaud louder if he'd actually practice the guitar until he could play it properly again. Kudos also for not just putting the instrument down after the jam completely collapsed and just walking offstage; thanks for that "Julius"!

Gotta love this "Disease", though; nothing groundbreaking or unusual by any means, but beautifully contoured and some lovely melodic work by everybody. "Taste" as usual is barely passable. Finally, a jam out of "20YL"! It's pretty awkward and dull, but points for effort! "Piper" makes me angry; just as it's beginning to swell into something sweet everybody just jumps ship, allowing Trey to wedge in his pet 3.0 tune. This is still probably the best set of the tour up to this point, and the gracious "Reba"+"GTBT" encore is a very nice gesture, highlighting the defining characteristic of this tour: the intent really seems to be there, but the execution definitely is not.

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